Until now tissue paper or towel dispensing systems have been designed based on force-fed roller systems or spring based gear trains. Such designs necessitate the towel web to be dry, tough and tenacious. In the spring based dipensing system, the spring has to be specially tight to trap the released web and prevent it from further slippage. Dispensers of this type are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,084,664; 2,989,024; 4,662,578; 3,843,218 and 4,406,421. The last two patents incorporate complex and expensive gear and clutch mechanisms. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,578 the gravity based driving gear pins and the teeth of the driven gear tend to lock up and inhibit smooth dipensing of the roll. The size of the driven gear is restricted by the number of teeth and therefore has limited efficiency and size. Furthermore, in the absence of locking or clutch system, the rebound spring attached to the towel web release mechanism has to be extremely tight to prevent slippage of the web. This makes it virtually impossible to relieve the tissue web with a gentle push of associated dispensing lever. Also, all prior art dispensing systems have large openings in the dispenser housing. This prohibits usuage of moistened rolls since the moisture would be dissipated by evaporation through the multiple openings.
The present invention provides means for an air-tight dispenser housing with an air-tight, self-locking passageway for dipensing the web and this passageway is opened only when the web is being relieved. Also the hands-free operation option provides a facility for disabled people to use the dispensers.
Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, dry or moistened tissue or towel dispensing system that employs a light spring based, self-locking dispensing mechanism with options for hands-free operation as well as an option for a total avoidance of use of the driving mechanism altogether to dispense the tissue or towel web. Another objective of the present invention is to provide an air-tight, hygienic dispenser system, with features for locking, that can contain dry or moistened tissue or towel for long periods of time.